A combined radial/axial bearing designed generically in this way is previously known from DE-A-20 47 421. The mounting, illustrated in FIG. 2, for the absorption of radial and axial forces consists of a radial needle bearing which is received in a cylindrical sleeve and the rolling bodies of which are held and guided in a cage. Inserted into the cylindrical sleeve on the right side is a first running disk serving as a running track for an axial rolling bearing, the bearing needles of which are guided, in turn, in a cage. The axial bearing includes a further running disk which is connected to the first running disk by flanging. A complete captive structural unit consisting of a radial and an axial bearing is thereby formed.
The disadvantage of this is that, in such a bearing arrangement according to the previous prior art, the arrangement of the radial and the axial bearing in relation to one another necessitates a large radial construction space which is not always available in specific installation situations. The further disadvantage is that such a generically designed bearing is composed of three structural parts of relatively complicated form which have to be connected to one another in a complex way in order to form a captive bearing structural unit.
Another generically designed radial/axial bearing has become known from DE 68 08 805 U. Its outer ring for the needles of the radial bearing according to FIG. 1 which are guided in a cage is provided at one end with a radially inward-directed rim and at the other end merges into a radially outward-running flange which serves as a running disk for the needles of the axial bearing which are guided in the cage and at its end has an axially directed collar. The loose running disk is equipped in the bore with an axially directed collar, on which are provided a plurality of indentations distributed uniformly over the circumference. These indentations engage behind the shoulder of a sheet-metal ring which is inserted into the outer ring and which has at the other end a radially inward-directed rim. The cage is guided axially by means of the two rims, and the loose running disk is held by means of the shoulder, so that the bearing forms a closed structural unit.
The disadvantages mentioned above also apply to this bearing arrangement, that is to say this radial/axial bearing likewise needs a large radial construction space.